The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved honoring a former Oakland postmaster and Navy veteran by naming the Ramapo Valley Road building where he worked the "Frank Leone Post Office."

The bill sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, was cosponsored by every member of the state's House delegation.

"Frank was very active, not just in the post office but in town. He belonged to every organization there was," his widow, Ellen Leone, said Thursday. "He loved people, loved his work, loved this town. He ran a good office too. He was tough on his workers, but fair."

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Leone, who died in 2014 days before his 60th wedding anniversary, was the last New Jersey postmaster to receive a presidential appointment from Lyndon Johnson. That happened in 1967, when stamps were 5 cents, and it confirmed a post he had held since 1964.

He was postmaster for 48 years, retiring in 2012 as a community institution. A Navy veteran of World War II who served on the aircraft carrier USS Kearsage, Leone had been president of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce; member of American Legion Post 369 and the Franklin Lakes VFW; fire chief; director of emergency management; Civil Defense defender; deacon of Ramapo Valley Baptist Church; and national vice president of the National Association of Postmasters.

"He was well known and well liked," Ellen Leone said. "He made sure the work got done and the mail got out."

Oakland postmaster Frank Leone, left, pointing out the last mail delivery via freight train from New York to Washington, D.C., in 1977(Photo: File)

At a ceremony to mark the bill's introduction in July, friends and family members said they had been seeking the honor since 2014, but getting an act of Congress passed was a hurdle. Gottheimer said that cosponsorship of all 11 House colleagues was a key factor in getting the bill passed.

"I'm proud to celebrate and recognize Frank's life," he said after the bill passed the House in November in an unanimous voice vote.